The Mystery of the Pink Pearl A three-nation collaborative story Part 1 by Ulfdav in South Africa Part 2 by Kendall in Canada Part 3 by Amalia, Victoria and Jessica in Argentina

Part 1: The mysterious box  

Daisies were Mother's favourite flowers. She had planted a wonderful bright garden of the white blossoms in a quiet area far from our country cottage. As soon as I was old enough to explore on my own, I began to gather the flowers for Mother every Spring.  I waited impatiently for the rains to stop this year, and on the first clear day, I grabbed my basket and lightly skipped to the little garden.  I had barely covered the bottom of my basket with flowers when I found a little treasure box.  I quickly  picked it up and looked around me to see if anyone was around. I started to get excited! I knew that mother was going to be proud of me.  

  Part 2: A beautiful pearl  

 I saw that there was no one around, so I turned back to my treasure box. It was wonderful. The gold clips glistened in the sunlight. As I looked closer I found that there was no lock holding the box shut; there was only a simple clasp. I , being a curious child, quickly flicked the tiny golden clasp. To my delight, the lid sprung open and I peered in. My hands trembled as I reached in to grab a beautiful pink pearl. As my fingers closed around the pearl, a warm burst of air swirled around me.

 Startled, I gripped the pearl with vice-like strength. When I saw nothing, I laughed nervously. This little garden journey was becoming very adventurous. I wasn't sure if I was completely okay with that. Since there was no immediate danger to myself or the box, I  turned slowly to gaze once again at the pink sparkle of the pearl. It was larger than most pearls I'd ever seen. In fact it was at least four times the size of the pearls on mother's special necklace.

 The sky started to darken, and the wind went from being a slight breeze to being a  fierce storm wind. Normally I would have stayed and waited for the coming rain to grace me with it's presence before I left, but there was no time for dancing in the rain today. No matter what, I had to get the pearl to safety. Lightning struck and I began to sprint, clutching the tiny gold box to my heaving chest. 

 Tiny rivulets of water danced down my face in their journey to the forest floor. My chest heaved and my breathing became laboured and deliberate. My pace slowed as I gasped for air. The world became tipsy, and I started to falter in my steps. I tried to see what was happening, but glittering spots of light dotted my vision.

Something hard and cold slammed into the back of my head. Blackness began closing in on my already fading vision. And then all too soon, I could see nothing. I fell to forest floor writhing in pain. A warm hand gently squeezed my shoulder, and I immediately stopped moving. The pain had weakened its death grip on me. As soon as I could see again I found that I could not keep my eyes from closing. My body and mind both slipped simultaneously into a much needed slumber.

Part 3: The case of the vanishing pearl

All of a sudden I woke up, the sky was bright and the sun was shinning like it had never shone before.  The pearl had disappeared. To my surprise a gnome was grinning at me with his wide smile.  I bellowed at him to give me back my precious pearl but he just looked at me as though I was crazy.  He started explaining to me that he hadn’t stolen my pearl, that he had come to look for blackberries and that he saw me laying unconsciously on the ground.  I ignored him but as I saw a humongous black ogre running towards northwest with a shiny roundish ball gripped on his disgusting fingers I believed the tiny inoffensive little gnome. I asked the gnome if he could chase the ogre. He nodded. Just as he finished nodding he went as fast as lightning to chase the horrible ogre. Ten minutes later the gnome came back with my precious and shining pearl. Before the gnome gave me the pearl he asked me a favor. He asked me if I could get more blackberries for him. After that favour I got home. And I went to have a nice cup of tea with my mom.

We chatted for a long time about the pearl because I had to tell someone and my mom was the closest to me so I told her.

That night after I had eaten supper the gnome came knocking on door . I answered it and told the gnome to come in. We went inside my room and by that time my mom was already sleeping. He told me something terrifying. He told me that the pearl I had found belonged to an evil monster and the monster was coming to get me. At first I didn’t believe it but later on I did. But that is another story for another time! THE END